"The State of Israel ... will ensure complete equality of social and political
rights of all its inhabitants irrespective of religion ... it will guarantee freedom
of religion and conscience." - May 1948)

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Many are following the twists and turns of the Kotel controversy with great interest and often anxiety. While grateful to the Jewish Week for featuring his take on the current state of the controversy, Rabbi Uri Regev feels that further contextualization and explanation is needed beyond the quotes that were reported.

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On August 31st, the Israeli Supreme Court took up a matter brought by Hiddush, Women of the Wall and the Reform and Conservative Movements. The issue at hand is whether to require the government to adhere to, and implement, the Kotel agreement.

These Hiddush survey findings prove how far the government has swerved away from the public will and the needs of the State of Israel. Instead, the government leaders
act as puppets whose strings are being pulled by the anti-Zionist, ultra-Orthodox political parties.

If you weren't on Mars this week, there is high likelihood that you are aware of the fierce storms engulfing Israel and world Jewry under the blazing summer sun. Every self-respecting Jewish organization issued a statement, and the language ranged from dismay to deplore, although most were lacking when it came to taking action.

Israel's religion and state conflict is viewed as a key component of shaping Israel's path. Recent days have provided us with a good cross section of the scope, depth, motivations, impact, and potential consequences of this ongoing saga.

The Prime Minister must either stop the incitement against non-Orthodox Judaism from within his own government or sever his political alliance with those who wage war against world Jewry and block Netanyhu's own public commitment to ensure that all Jews feel at home in Israel.

Following the Supreme Court’s issuance of a Show Cause Order to the Government regarding the prohibition against women’s Torah readings at the Western Wall: Among secular Israelis 86% expressed their support, as did 61% of the traditional Jewish community.

69% of Jewish Israelis favor allowing women to light Chanukah candles at the Western Wall. This principled position also enjoys a high level of support among voters for the non-Haredi Coalition parties.

Lawmakers from Shas and United Torah Judaism, as well as Likud’s Oren Hazan, David Amsalem and Miki Zohar and Jewish Home’s Betzalel Smotrich, Moti Yogev, and Nissan Slomianksy, have endorsed the proposed legislation, officially lodged on Sunday, that would anchor Orthodox practice in law throughout the entire Western Wall vicinity.

The Jewish Federations of North America convened their General Assembly earlier this week, and impressed upon Prime Minister Netanyahu how strongly they feel about implementing the Western Wall Agreement that his Government reached with Women of the Wall, and the Reform and Conservative movements. While the Prime Minister reiterated his commitment to the agreement, but pleaded to them for patience & silence, MK David Amsalem, a senior member of Netanyahu's Likud party, in his official capacity as Chairman of the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee, attempted to sabotage the agreement because it offends his religious sentiments. In doing so he had no compunction acknowledging that this would offend American Jewry.

We who truly care about Israel's well-being and bond with world Jewry must not continue tolerating such contempt for (and humiliation of) Diaspora Jewry and the largest Jewish religious streams at the hands of the leaders of the parties that serve in his Government Coalition.

Hiddush's simple, straightforward review of the comments regarding the Western Wall made by the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Knesset, and the Head of the Opposition during the Jewish Agency's Board of Governors meeting this week, teaches us much about how Israel's political leadership prefers to deal with crises in Israel's relations to the Diaspora: it's called "Damage Control."

The rabbinate sees itself as waging a culture war, and it has been winning. Since the state’s founding rabbinic power thwarts the development of a secular conception of citizenship. Hiddush polled Israeli Jews and found that 71% support the freedom to marry and divorce independent of the Orthodox rabbinate.

It has almost become a painful routine to update our readers on the all too frequent outrageous statements made by Israel's ultra-orthodox cabinet members and MKs, which go against all commonly accepted norms of rule of law and democracy.